9800GTX or SLI 9600/8800GT ???

[someone1029]

Hi, pretty much whats in the title, which is faster, 9800GTX or SLI 9600GT or SLI 8800GT. There are a few things that need to be brought into consideration:

Price:
I dont want to go over $500AU, so the 9800GTX is right in there at around $450, the 9600GT option will come to about $400, and the 8800GT solution will come to about $500.

Performance:
First of all will two lower end cards beat the 9800GTX?. And secondly is the 8800GT in SLI so much better that it is worth an extra $100

Overclockability:
Will overclocking change any of the above answers for performance? also can the 9600GT clock better than the 8800GT, seeing as the 9600 uses a newer core this should be true, but is it?

At the moment getting another 9800GTX is not a long term option as i still need to upgrade my ram, buy a case, and get some decent cooling into the beast!

Thanks in advance, any other suggestions very welcome!

[Nebulous]

A single 9800GTX will out perform any cards in SLI. This also applies in performance.

Unless you're strapped for cash, I would'nt bother using 2 older cards in SLI. Go with a single high performance card.

[someone1029]

Can you justify that with framerates/3dmark scores etc?

My thoughts would be that if a 9800GTX is an overclocked 8800GT with slightly more shaders and slightly better memory that surely two 8800GT's would beat the 9800GTX, especialy considering that the 8800GT's not so bigger brother the 8800GTS performs almost on par with the 9800GTX.

[ratbuddy]

A single 9800GTX will out perform any cards in SLI. This also applies in performance.

Unless you're strapped for cash, I would'nt bother using 2 older cards in SLI. Go with a single high performance card.

Huh? Either of the SLI setups should spank the GTX easily..

[someone1029]

Thats what i thought, is there any data that can compare the SLI setups to the GTX? and if so which SLI setup would be better, and would the $100 difference be worth it?

[AngelicPenguin]

Looks like you might have to do a bit of sleuthing as all the reviews I've read compare the 9800 GTX to like similar cards or compare the 9800 GTX SLI to 8800 GTX SLI, etc.

Should be easy enough if you go looking for the 9600GT and 8800GT reviews individually.

[deathman20]

Umm yeah the 8800GTS and the 9800GTX are basically the same, just the 9800GTX is an higher clocked 8800GTS. Same shaders, little faster memory.

Overall 2x 8800GT,s or even 2x 9600GT's should easily beat a single 9800GTX. Heck even 8800GTS Oced could possibly beat the 9800GTX.

[someone1029]

Mmm, so which sli combo to go for? 8800gt or 9600gt? Is the extra performance worth $100

[Nebulous]

Can you justify that with framerates/3dmark scores etc?

My thoughts would be that if a 9800GTX is an overclocked 8800GT with slightly more shaders and slightly better memory that surely two 8800GT's would beat the 9800GTX, especialy considering that the 8800GT's not so bigger brother the 8800GTS performs almost on par with the 9800GTX.

So if you knew this, then why ask the question:

Hi, pretty much whats in the title, which is faster, 9800GTX or SLI 9600GT or SLI 8800GT. There are a few things that need to be brought into consideration:

Price:
I dont want to go over $500AU, so the 9800GTX is right in there at around $450, the 9600GT option will come to about $400, and the 8800GT solution will come to about $500.

Performance:
First of all will two lower end cards beat the 9800GTX?. And secondly is the 8800GT in SLI so much better that it is worth an extra $100

Overclockability:
Will overclocking change any of the above answers for performance? also can the 9600GT clock better than the 8800GT, seeing as the 9600 uses a newer core this should be true, but is it?

At the moment getting another 9800GTX is not a long term option as i still need to upgrade my ram, buy a case, and get some decent cooling into the beast!

Thanks in advance, any other suggestions very welcome!

Alot pf ppl will say: "Oh, a single GTX will beat an SLI setup" Then of course the other side will say :"Oh, an SLI setup will be a single GTX" blah blah

You asked several questions in which you already knew the answer to.


I've reviews concerning both and I posted what I thought was the best answer. You did'nt ask a precise question as to :

A) Which card will beat what card overclocked
B) Will a GTX beat 2 cards overclocked in SLI

[someone1029]

So if you knew this, then why ask the question:



Alot pf ppl will say: "Oh, a single GTX will beat an SLI setup" Then of course the other side will say :"Oh, an SLI setup will be a single GTX" blah blah

You asked several questions in which you already knew the answer to.


I've reviews concerning both and I posted what I thought was the best answer. You did'nt ask a precise question as to :

A) Which card will beat what card overclocked
B) Will a GTX beat 2 cards overclocked in SLI

I didn't know this, I had an idea on what the answer could be, but I wanted opinions and suggestions from fellow pc enthusiasts, is that too much too ask?

That is your opinion and I respect that, I asked why you gave me that opinion. And yes I know some people will argue sli is better and some don't, I need to know WHY they have those opinions otherwise I can't make an imformed decision on which graphics solution to go with. Have you ever written a good essay in which you stated something and didn't justify that statement? I didn't think so.

Basicaly all I want to know is will 2x 8800/9600gt in sli beat a 9800gtx taking overclocking into consideration.

[ratbuddy]

Either setup will spank the 9800GTX. Right now, the situation looks like this, top to bottom in terms of speed with realistic street prices after rebates:

2x 9800GX2 ~$1100
3x 9800GTX ~$990
2x 9800GTX ~$660
1x 9800GX2 ~$550
2x 8800GTS-512 ~$450
2x 8800GT-512 ~$360
2x 9600GT ~$240

3870X2 is slower than any of those setups. Quadfire is somewhat broken, it falls somewhere between a single GX2 and a pair of 8800GTs. 3870X2+3870 hybrid crossfire isn't even worth mentioning. In many cases, a single 8800GTS beats it.

[deathman20]

I perfer not having 2 cards. But thats just me, and I won't buy a new motherboard to support SLI. Thats the great thing about ATI's Crossfire that it works in every board period.

But overall the 2 cards in SLI will dominate the 9800GTX. But as well your paying XX more over the 9800GTX as well to get said performance.

[ghost_recon88]

So the 9800GX2 is faster then 2x GTS in SLI?

[ratbuddy]

I perfer not having 2 cards. But thats just me, and I won't buy a new motherboard to support SLI. Thats the great thing about ATI's Crossfire that it works in every board period.

But overall the 2 cards in SLI will dominate the 9800GTX. But as well your paying XX more over the 9800GTX as well to get said performance.

If you count the cost of an SLI mobo, yeah it costs more. Otherwise, you can get a pair of 9600GT's for $100 less than a 9800GTX, and a pair of 8800GT's for about the same price.

So the 9800GX2 is faster then 2x GTS in SLI?

Not a lot faster, but yeah. Generally around 2-5% or so. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The drivers are still young.

[ghost_recon88]

Dang, tempting to sell off my GTS and grab one since I don't want to get an SLI board.

[jason4207]

What is your ultimate gaming goal w/ these cards? I ask b/c when you get into the upper resolutions w/ AA all these cards tend to choke b/c of the bus width & frame buffer. Even in SLI, b/c SLI can only use the amount of RAM on 1 card.

If your going for benchmarks then SLI is very worthwhile, but for gaming the extra cards don't seem to help much. Sure the max FPS goes up, but the min FPS usually doesn't...sometimes it actually goes lower. This means you'll have choppy gameplay, and that kind of ruins it for me.

Since you're looking to upgrade some other components as well I'd suggest just getting 1 8800GTS-512, and the other stuff you want.

[giantmike2]

Don't forget that the 9800 gtx has lower voltage and better cooling.

[someone1029]

Seeing as the improvement of sli over the gtx isn't that great (not to mention $50 dearer for the GT's) I might get the gtx, especialy considering that I now know they can go to around 960/2900 on a stock cooler! Plus it leaves me with more room to grow if I ever do get enogh money to buy another.

Infact just looking at those prices I might even get it/them from America, does anyone know any good American stores that ship to Australia?